Problem using ssh locally - slow to respond

I have a desktop set up with openssh-server. I would like to be able to log in to the desktop and move files to and from my laptop. Both run ubuntu 7.04.

I have had this working in the past. I could use ssh <email address hidden> or I could use the option to "connect to server" under the places menu. Usually, it worked once. It would say something about the host being unknown and did I really want to connect. I'd say yes and it would work. When I would try again a few days later it would return an error about being unable to connect. If i opened the .ssh folder and deleted the "known hosts" file it would again work - once.

Right now I can only connect with ssh in a terminal and there is the long pause before being asked for a password. If I use the "connect to server" option under Places and set up a link it will return an error saying "could not open location 'ssh:user@192.168.1.100:22'". This is the method I'd prefer to use because it allows me to use nautilus to copy and move files.

A solution for me would be to have both ssh in a terminal and with nautilus work every time and quickly and without the need to delete the "known_hosts" file each time.

Okay, wait. I went ahead and added that line to the client computer and rebooted (old windows habit, I know) and it seems to be working. I also restarted ssh on the server. I think that fixed it. Does turning off GSSAPIAuthentication open any security risks? If I open port 22 for external ssh (like from work to home) will that leave me wide open?

The man page ssh_config says GSSAPIAuthentication is no by default but in Debian and derives it's ON by default (Debian Bug #409360). Given the default settings I doubt this would cause any security issues.

GSSAPIAuthentication allows you to use kerberos to authenticate, which you're probably not doing. It won't decrease your security to turn it off, though in the proper environment, like a big organization, kerberos would be a better way to authenticate.

Nevertheless, I'm troubled by the need to disable this feature. DIgging further, there are some bugs on this, e.g.

I had a similar problem, and setting GSSAPIAuthentication to no did NOT help.
I disabled mDNS from the nsswitch.conf file on the client and now the problem is solved:
In /etc/nsswitch.conf, I replaced :